Big Day in Seattle

Well, it's already Wednesday, gang, and we're getting suited up for the christening of the Northern Leader, the newest vessel in the Alaska Leader Seafoods fleet. We'll be heading down to Pier 91 at the Port of Seattle an into an adventure we've never had before. It ought to be quite interesting. Along the way we will pass a couple of spots we hope to take you to during this trip if we can. The first is the L. C. Smith tower built by one of the most remarkable entrepreneurs in the history of our country. (Think "Smith & Wesson, Smith-Corona and others.) I'll add a photo taken yesterday

(look to the far right, the little building with the white, pyramidal top to the right of the dark, square tower)

.... and then one from around 1914 when it was one of the tallest buildings in the country. We'll get back to it later. We are also hoping to visit the Olympic Sculpture Garden and a couple of other spots we think you'll like. But that's for later. For now, though, despite some substantial construction-site challenges the city gave our struggling GPS, we made it to Pier 91, parked our trusty steed and wandered over to the dock where "Northern Leader" was tied up,


just forward of her sister ship, "Bering Leader" one of the older members of the fleet. The entire area was decked out for a real party with seating for hundreds, some of Seattle's signature flowers, and at least a half-dozen huge 'food-trucks' dispensing complimentary meals of every sort you could imagine.

We spotted our niece and her daughter just getting ready to take some friends on a tour of the ship and quickly joined the group. Right off the bat you can tell that this is not a "run-of-the-mill" boat; the paintwork, the gleaming high-tech fittings, the powerful LED searchlights and even the sky-blue mooring lines let you know this is something special. Utilizing the most creative engineering minds to be found and the most advanced technology in existence the ship will definitely have a huge impact on fishing in the Pacific/Bering Sea waters for a long time. My narrative might get a little choppy here because there is so much I want you to see that I'll err on the side of pictures vs words where necessary. First, let me briefly talk about the preliminary program.

Like just about any big event these days the politicians and press were very well represented and the friends and partners of the company spoke in glowing terms about the ship. The Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, was there and talked about the 21st century shipbuilding challenges facing the maritime states.

But for me, the highlight of the program was the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, Mead Treadwell, who spoke with eloquent passion about the urgency of combining technology, ecological awareness and human compassion to forge a new future in the fishing industry.

The reason his comments were special was because it seemed to be one of those almost unheard of instances where the opposing views of the two main political branches were briefly merged for the betterment of all of us. We can still hope! Then it was on to the big moment. Of course Shaun, one of his engineers and the wife of the managing partner try to pick just the right spot for the event!

And then, with blessings from Father Seamus Laverty and a mighty whack of the champaign bottle by Hattie Albecker from Ugashik, Alaska, the Northern Leader takes her place in the fleet.

My pictures for this aren't too great because the were taken from behind rather than from the pier but we didn't want to miss the chance to be with Kimberly and Shaun for an "up-close" view of the christening.

The ship is really beautiful and the entire ceremony was extremely well done but now I want to take you through some of the unique spaces on board. We'll take a look at some of the things outside and then go to the heart of the vessel. Even the traditional "smoke stacks", normally a recognizable part of a ship are certainly not what you would expect.

From the emergency craft - ready for immediate action - to the mighty cranes used for hoisting stores aboard and fish ashore ........



.... from the highly automated system for bringing in the 'long line' to even the mooring lines in exotic "Alaskan Leader blue", everything about this vessel is truly 'world class'.


I'm going to try to keep things grouped into four areas - the engineering stuff and propulsion system, the fish processing stuff, living spaces and the nerve center of the ship, the bridge. You're gonna be amazed. But - rather than put you into sensory overload I think it would be a better idea to close this post and come back later with the "tour". So - that's what we'll do. Don't stay gone long; I really want you to see this stuff!! See ya.
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